The 2024-25 Iowa High School Girl’s Wrestling officially began this past week, and the SWAT team wasted little time mixing it up on the mats.

They started the season off on Tuesday by competing in a double dual meet in Ankeny. Thursday found them a bit closer to home, as they wrestled in Van Meter, and they completed their week of competition in Holstein on Saturday.

The team began their season by facing off against Class 2A competition on Tuesday, as they traveled to Ankeny. In the event, the Valkyries took on much bigger teams in the host Hawks and the team representing Des Moines Hoover. Although they did not pick up a team victory in the event, the girls got some much-needed experience, that will pay off as the season progresses.

Ankeny was their first opponent and the Hawks were not very gracious hosts. They took the first four matches of the meet, only dropping three weights in the match, and went on to win by the final score of 59-18. Ellen Gerlock, wrestling at 190, picked up a win when she pinned her opponent’s shoulders to the mat in 5:19. The next weight up, 235, proved victorious for the team as well, as Anastasia Peron also won via fall, pinning her opponent in 53 seconds. Nadia South was the third and final winner for the team. Wrestling at 110, she too won by fall in a time of 2:49.

Des Moines Hoover was the next opponent for the team. SWAT would win six of the matches in the event, five from forfeit, but fell by the final count of 41-36. Liliana Tafoya (155), Ellen Gerlock (190), Megan Gerlock (235), Jazz Christensen (105), and Addi Glade (125), all were winners when the Huskies could not produce an opponent to wrestle against them. Stella Beattie, wrestling at 170, pinned her opponent in 2:12, to help her team accumulate points.

“We had a lot of nerves there in our first competition,” Coach Tyler South said. “Not only were they bigger schools, Ankeny and Ankeny Centennial were combined and had 37 wrestlers out. That being said it was a good night of competition for us.”

After a day of practice, the team was right back on the mats on Thursday, taking part in a quadrangular meet in Van Meter. Wrestling against teams much more their size, the scores were much closer, but unfortunately the results were the same. The team got much needed experience, but came away winless on the night.

Logan-Magnolia was the first team they faced off against on Thursday. The Valkyries won just under half of the matches, but came up just short, losing 42-33. Bailey Lillard, wrestling at 155, started the night off on the right foot for the team, winning via fall in a time of 1:16. At 190, Ellen Gerlock also won by fall in 2:52. Jazz Christensen (105), won by fall in 1:09 and Nadia South (110) pinned her opponent in :36. At 115, Destiny Fry pinned her girl in 5:22. Wrestling at 135, Karissa Groves saw her match go the distance, but in the end, she prevailed with a 16-10 decision.

Perry was the team’s next opponent. In this set of matches, SWAT would win five, but had to forfeit four, and fell by the final score of 47-30. Stella Beattie and Megan Gerlock won via forfeit, while Ellen Gerlock (:37), Nadia South (:54), and Karissa Groves (1:53) all pinned their opponents. Raccoon River-Northwest was their final opponent on the night and forfeits hurt the team in the match. They had to give up five weights and fell by the final score of 52-30. Ellen Gerlock (:52), Nadia South (4:27), Destiny Fry (4:10), and Addi Glade (1:22) all won via fall. Stella Beattie won vis forfeit.

“Once again we were up against bigger schools on Thursday. Raccoon River is a ranked team, both in state and nationally,” he said. “All the girls stepped up and didn’t back down at all.”

The team had another day of practice before their next meet, which was on Saturday. This day found them traveling to Northwest Iowa to take part in the Ridge View Girl’s Meet in Holstein. Showing improvement, the team finished in third place overall, with 149 points.

The team did not crown any champions on the day, but did have a trio of second place finishers. Jazz Christensen (105), started off the day with a bye and the pinned her next opponent in a time of 1:10. Her second match of the day saw her score another victory via fall, this time in 1:49. In the championship match she was bested 16-3. Nadia South (110), also started off with a bye, then pinned her way to the championship, winning her matches in 3:23 and 4:37. In the finals, she lost when she was pinned in 1:39. Stella Beattie (170) won her first match by pinning her girl in :48. Her next match didn’t last much longer, as she pinned that girl in :51. In the match to get to the finals, Beattie won in a time of 1:42. In the finals she fell when she was pinned in 1:03.

“We took nine girls up to Holstein on Saturday and the girls were very excited to wrestle on that day,” the coach said of his team’s day of action. “We had one girl get hurt, but they turned in three second place finishes and four third place finishes on the day, so I was very happy with their effort.”

The team will next be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to the campus of Iowa Central Community College to take part in the Triton Clash.

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